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GRINNELL, IA—Grinnell College senior Jake M. Joseph has been selected to receive a fellowship from the 2010 Fund for Theological Education (FTE). The undergraduate fellowships, which are funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc., recognize students who have gifts for leadership and are exploring the possibility of ministry as a vocation. FTE Undergraduate Fellows are selected by a national committee of theological educators and church leaders.

Joseph, a French and history double major, plans to use his award to pay for costs associated with attending college and to travel to visit divinity schools and seminaries around the country. He hopes to enter the ministry in the United Church of Christ and focus on LGBT inclusion within religious institutions as full members in faith and action. Joseph was nominated for the fellowship Grinnell College chaplain Deanna Shorb and Rev. Mary Nelson Abbott, pastor at Malletts Bay Congregational Church in Colchester, Vt.

“[Jake’s] enthusiasm for the UCC and his strong sense of calling to be a pastor really struck me,” said Abbott. “I want to do what I can to encourage Jake and the other pre-seminarians at Grinnell.” Abbott is a 2002 Grinnell graduate and was an FTE undergraduate fellow in 2000.

The Fund for Theological Education has awarded nearly 6,000 fellowships since 1954 to advocate excellence and diversity in Christian ministry and theological scholarship, supporting the next generation of leaders among pastors and scholars.

Grinnell College is a nationally recognized, private, four-year, liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Founded in 1846, Grinnell enrolls 1,600 students from all 50 states and from as many international countries in more than 26 major fields, interdisciplinary concentrations, and pre-professional programs.